“Yoga is to be known by Yoga,
Yoga itself leads to Yoga,
He who remains steadfast in Yoga
Always delights in it.”
~(Vyasa’s commentary on sutra III.6, The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali)
I dropped into my first yoga class in 1982. My interest was casual, I might just as well have picked up a dance class or joined a volley ball team. The approach of the teachers at the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco, however, was far from casual. They taught with dedication, commitment and ardor. Something about their style and method, something about yoga itself, drew me deeper, to develop a rigorous daily practice and eventually to learn about yoga’s history, philosophy and devotional aspects.
It is
difficult to describe the magnetism some of us feel for Yoga. Patanjali alludes
to it in the Yoga Sutra with the term samvega,
a momentum that gathers and accrues when Yoga is taught authentically and
practiced sincerely. All forms of physical culture bring vibrancy, strength,
health and well being. All forms of study bring knowledge. Yoga has been refined
over thousands of years to add the element of grace, causing the teaching to
penetrate to the core. Grace is what lead me to make a pilgrimage to Pune , India
All of this
time I had a different career in nursing. I never had the financial necessity
to teach. I did it purely for the joy of sharing something cherished. After I
retired from nursing I dreamed of having an intimate yoga studio where I could
offer classes at an affordable price to a small group of dedicated students. Deep
River Yoga studio is the realization of that dream. It is an offering of deep
gratitude to the Iyengar family and all the proceeding and succeeding yoga
teachers linked to them and through them to Patanjali, the great codifier of
Yoga, with special gratitude to my primary teacher, Janet Macleod, for her
joyous, abundant and generous spirit; and to Kate Holcolm for teaching me to
chant the Yoga Sutra.